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VOLUME 9, NUMBER 1
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The Commoner.
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William J. HnvAM CiiAni.ra W. JJhyan
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THE COMMONER, Lincoln, Neb.
short period, to tho fact of tho depression all
over tho world, so that the consumption of
wheat has been decreased by reason of that fact,
and that there woro not people to buy, and the
people did not have so much monoy to buy. Is
.'..not that your theory?
Mr. Bryan. Mr. Chairman, I beliovo that tho
appreciation of gold, which has made business
unprofitable, has thrown many people out of em
ployment, so that thoy have nothing to buy
wheat with, and that this has to some extent
lessened tho demand for wheat and contributed
to tho fall In price. "Wheat has fallen with other
property generally, and has also suffered spe
cially from competition with silver-using coun
tries; but I do not want to detain the committee
with a discussion which is entirely irrevelant
at this time, as to what other influences may
have contributed to tho fall in tho price of wheat.
Wo aro now discussing one disturbing influence
and that ono influence I hope wo may succeed
in eliminating.
Mr. Goldstar. I will ask tho gentleman this
question. Do you believe that in tho tremendous
fall within tho period you have mentioned gamb
ling in wheat had any part within the last year
or two?
Mr. Bryan. Mr. Chairman, I am not prepared
to say how much of the fall which has occurred
in the last two years is duo to gambling in
wheat, and I do not base my argument upon the
assertion that gambling in wheat reduces the
price of wheat. If the gentleman can prove
that gambling in wheat has raised tho price
of wheat, and that because of gambling it is
higher today than it would have been, I will
still oppose gambling, because, sirs, my farmer
. constituents do not demand that I shall secure
them an advantage at tho expense of somebody
else through tho aid of the speculators In grain
They simply want to be left alone "to work out
their own salvation." Thoy do not ask the
board of trade of Chicago to help them to make
money out of people who may have to buy
wheat; and sirs, when business is standing still
ns It were, when industries are idle, when fac
tories are closed, and men have little employ
ment to make money to buy bread, our farmers
do not ask the chambers of commerce and the
speculators of the cities to help them reap an
bu bread an th PePle Wh llave
I simply ask that, to far as this gambling
In grain affects the price of wheat, whether it
raises it or lowers it, it may be eliminated
Mr. Bynum. Will the gentleman yield for
one question there? y Ior
Mr. Goldzier. Will the gentleman allow mo
to aak him a question?
Mr. Bryan. Mr, Chairman, I will not yield
The Commoner
further to tho gentleman from Illinois, as I have
givon him all the time I can spare, but I will
yield to a question from the gentleman from
Indiana.
Mr. Goldzier. I thank the gentleman.
Mr. Bynum. Does not tho bill legalize gamb
ling transactions in wheat?
Mr. Bryan. If the gentleman can point out
to the committee any clause in the bill that
will legalize gambling, and can prove to the
satisfaction of this committee thdt gambling
will be carried on, to greater extent with this
law than without it, I believe ho can persuade
the committee to strike out that part of the
bill.
Mr. Allen. I will vote against it myself.
(Laughter.)
Mr. Bryan. And when the gentleman from
Mississippi (Mr. Allen) votes against it and car
ries his following with him, it will certainly be
dofeatod. (Laughter.)
Mr. Bynum. Either the bill legalizes this
"gambling" by taxing it, or else the taxing power
is to be used for the purpose of destroying a
business.
Mr. Bryan. A word on that point, Mr. Chair
man. There is a great deal said about legaliz
ing, a thing by taxing it. There is not a great
abuse that has grown up in this country that
does not make the argument: "You must not
tax us or you will legalize us." When they go
stalking through the land carrying devastation
wherever they go, they need not come in here
and object to restraint and urge the old excuse,
"Do not tax us, because then you will be legal
izing us."
Mr. Chairman, when I was led away from
the lino of my argument by the interruptions,
I was saying that, so far as tho moral character
of the transaction is concerned, a man has no
more right to speculate with my product, and
thereby to increase the price to the man who
buys it of me or decrease its price to me, than
he has to take from me, or from the man who
buys my products, so much money. No man
-has a natural right to inflict a wrong upon his
neighbor. More than that, society Is in duty
bound to prevent every mail, so far as possible,
from injuring any other man.
In the ruder forms of society the Individual
could avenge his own wrongs; ho could go out
with a club and defend himself and protect his
rights. But when he came into society, society
took the club away from him. Society says
that the farmer in my state who is suffering
because of the action of somebody in some other
state can not go there and redress his wrongs,
and I insist that when government suspends
the right of a man to defend himself, it assumes
a duty to defend him against every possible
aggressor.
When you say that a man is powerless to
redress his own grievances, you must admit that
government is bound to redress every wrong
inflicted upon him; because, if you say that a
man has a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit
of happiness, and then declare that some other
man may with impunity deprive him of that
right, you have disputed your first proposition.
The question is simply this, and I believe it is
the only question oi.en to discussion: "What
power should redress this wrong? Should it
be done by congress, or should it be done by
the various states?" That, in my judgment, is
the only debatable question presented here
You may say that this bill is not perfect.
Perhaps it is not. May be there aTe grievous
defects in it; but, sirs, if you will wait for per
fection in legislation, wrong can go rampant
and will never be checked. Our laws are never
absolutely just. If you say that this law brings
some inconvenience to the honest trader, I an
swer that our statute books are full of laws
which bring inconvenience to honest men but
which are necessary in order to protect society
Wo say by law that a man who has a deed to a
piece of property must put it upon record if he
wants to protect himself, because if he does
not, some other man, also a bona fide purchaser
may appear with a deed, '
Now, in such a case, the man who sold the
property a second time has no title to It, but
because society must have laws, because there
must bo protection to men when they trade
with each other, we provide by law that he
. who receives a deed must put it on record if he
would be secure in his title. That is an onerous
law. It costs something to comply with it. The
man has to pay a fee to have his deed recorded.
The law puts him to inconvenience, too, because
he must take the deed to the place of record
but you burden him with this cost and incon
venience in order to protect society from still
greater inconvenience and injury
It may be that this bill contains some pro-
visions which are onerous upon an honest dealer.
If there be such and they can be made less oner
ous without destroying the purpose of the bill,
I am in favor of making any necessary changes.
I hope there will not be left in the bill a single
provision which is any more stringent than is
absolutely necessary in order to carry out the
purposes of the measure. But, sirs, if it is neces
sary to place some slight restrictions upon those
engaged in honest transactions in order to pro
tect society from those who, under the guise
of honest transactions, are carrying on dishonest
and injurious ones, we must in this, as in all
other cases and in all other kinds of legislation,
sanction the restriction in order to secure the
greatest justice.
But, Mr. Chairman, let me address myself
just a moment to the question whether the state
or the general government should restrain this
kind of gambling. I am rather a stickler for
local self-government. I do not believe that
the general government should take charge of
those local matters which the state can better
attend to. But I do believe that it is the duty
of the general government, within the limits of
the constitution, to remedy every wrong which
the state can not remedy. Do you believe, Mr.
Chairman, that the state of New York will stop
gambling upon the board of trade? No, because
the people who gamble there can gather their
profit from all the states. You can not trust
the rights of the people of the United States,
you can not trust the interest of every other
state to the legislature of New York. And
Chicago is getting so large that I am almost
afraid to trust the rights of all the people of
all the states even to the legislature of Illinois.
These transactions, Mr. Ghairman, affect the
people of the whole country; and I do not see
any way in which we can reach the evil except
through national legislation. The evil has been
going on for years, and yet it has not been
opposed by the states. And if we should go
to the state of New York with a petition from
Nebraska, a petition from Kansas, a petition
from the state represented so ably by my friend
from Indiana (Mr. Bynum)
Mr. Bynum. In part.
Mr. Bryan. I beg pardon; in part. (Laugh
ter.) If we should go and beg them to pass
some law. which would protect our people from
having the price of their grain affected by
gambling on the board of trade of New York,
how long do you suppose we would wait before
obtaining redress?
No, Mr. Chairman, if this is within tho power
of the federal government, I believe the power
ought to be exercised. And I am willing, in
case of doubt on questions like this, to let the
supreme court decide whether the act is within
the constitutional power of congress or not. By
our constitution we have provided a supremo
court for the decision of such questions. I
will not say that a member who is thoroughly
convinced in his own mind that this measure is
unconstitutional, ought to vote for it, and then
throw upon the supreme court the responsi
bility of annulling the act. But I do believe,
Mr.. Chairman, that if, after examining the bill,
a member of this house has a doubt about its
constitutionality, he had better resolve the doubt
upon the side of the people if he believes in
the purpose of the measure, because then the
man who claims that the measure is unconstitu
tional has an opportunity tp present his case
before the supreme court. But if we resolve
such a doubt against the people of the United
States, I ask before what tribunal can they de
fend their rights?
farmers? mbS' By "the people'" you mean tho
Mr. Bryan. No sir, I do not; nor do I mean
the gamblers upon the board of trade. (Ap
plause.) I mean the people generally. I in
sist, however, that the humblest farmer in my
district is the equal before the law of the
wealthiest man represented by the gentleman
from New York, and has an equal right to be
heard on this floor. (Applause.)
Mr. Coombs. Your remark had no point if
you did not mean the farmers. You do not pro
pose to protect all the citizens of the United
, 7 measure; it is oply the farmer that
you claim is affected.
,5r Bryan-, M e gentleman, desires to pro
tect some of his constituents by extending the
1 eTlth? bJ!1 let him brin& ia an amendment,
and I think the representatives of the agricul
tural districts will join him In adopting such
an amendment.
Mr Coombs. I have no constituents to be
benefited by such a measure.
Mr. Wheeler, of Alabama. Is It not time to
do something for the farmer?
Mr. Bryan. If I were compelled to give a
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